http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=167927>1=5024 A look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2004 summer movie season Until this November, when movie studios begin to release their Oscar hopefuls, movie fans may find it a bit slow at their local multiplex. And since this summer's blockbuster season was chock full of films that destroyed ("Day After Tomorrow," "I, Robot," "Collateral"), flicks that annoyed ("Little Black Book," "Garfield," "Thunderbirds") and even a few that we enjoyed ("Bourne Supremacy," "Maria Full of Grace," "Garden State"), we figured the time was right to take a look back at the summer movie season that was. Funniest Performance The summer's funniest performance goes to Will Ferrell as TV newscaster Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman." Ferrell's macho, mustachioed, egomaniac added another classic character to his ever-expanding oeuvre. And "Anchorman's" success at the box office gives Ferrell a hat trick, as his last three films ("Anchorman," "Elf," "Old School") have all topped the $70 million mark, planting the "Saturday Night Live" alum firmly atop Hollywood's A-list. Honorable mention: Jamie Foxx, "Breakin' All the Rules"; Ben Stiller, "Dodgeball"; Mike Myers, "Shrek 2" Breakout Star Even though Kirsten Dunst was originally cast as the lead in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village," it's hard to imagine anyone besides Bryce Dallas Howard playing blind girl Ivy Walker. Howard, the 23-year-old daughter of child star-turned-director Ron Howard, adds an emotional center to Shyamalan's much-maligned frightener. Shyamalan deserves praise for casting an unknown actress in the role; ditto Howard, who gives a breakout turn amidst a slew of solid performances by Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt. Honorable mention: Ryan Gosling, "The Notebook"; Zach Braff, "Garden State"; Jamie Foxx, "Collateral" Best Action Sequence The trolley scene in "Spider-Man 2" was pretty amazing, as was watching Los Angeles get trashed in "The Day After Tomorrow," but the best action sequence of the summer was Jason Bourne's (Matt Damon) car chase through Moscow in "The Bourne Supremacy." Seeing Bourne rip around town in a BMW taxi while being pursued by both the police and a Russian hitman/secret agent (Karl Urban) in a Mercedes SUV earns the chase a spot alongside cinema's all-time great car chases. Director Paul Greengrass and cinematographer Oliver Wood keep the chase at a frenetic pace, and by shooting tight, like, really, really tight, we are sucked right into the middle of the action. Honorable mention: The trolley scene, "Spider-Man 2"; L.A. gets destroyed, "Day After Tomorrow"; Hector vs. Achilles, "Troy" Best Facial Hair What do Burt Reynolds, Erol Flynn, Clark Gable and Cheech all have in common? Famous facial hair, of course. With a pair of top-notch comedic performances, both Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller angle to resusitate the mustachioed leading man. Ferrell has rarely looked more comfortable than he does with hair on his lip (and his chest) as newscaster Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman." Ditto Ben Stiller, who dons a James Hetfield-esque 'stache for his turn as the evil White Goodman in "Dodgeball." Both men give their performances a classy air with some facial hair. Honorable mention: Michael Gambon, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"; Eric Bana, "Troy"; Puss-in-Boots, "Shrek 2" Hottest Hottie / Male Even though Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom had a combustible combination of wind-blown hair, strong calves and smoldering love scenes in "Troy," it's Will Smith who takes the title of Hottest Hottie this year. While Pitt and Bloom certainly look great on celluloid (and in skirts), Will Smith looks downright smashing while smashing robots in the sci-fi thriller "I, Robot." Plus he's got a great sense of humor and a sensitivity that gets us every time. And did we mention he's a husband and a dad? That's no Greek tragedy. Honorable mention: Jake Gyllenhaal, "The Day After Tomorrow"; Tom Cruise, "Collateral"; Chris Pine, "The Princess Diaries 2" Hottest Hottie / Female The only thing better than a film starring Halle Berry is a film starring Halle Berry in tight black leather. "Catwoman" was clawed by critics, but Halle was more fox than feline in those ripped black pants, thigh-high high heels and S&M bustier. It's beyond us how there wasn't one iota of chemistry between Berry and co-star Benjamin Bratt, a hottie in his own right. And we'd be remiss not to mention 46-year-old Sharon Stone in this category too, who, despite her over-the-hill age by Hollywood sexpot standards, is still a Hollywood sexpot. Honorable mention: Natalie Portman, "Garden State"; Kirsten Dunst, "Spider-Man 2"; Keira Knightley, "King Arthur" Best Chemistry Why do we fall for on-screen couples who bicker? Maybe it's because somewhere in our collective memory we're aware that the most passionate affairs are the ones that start off rocky, like Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) in this summer's sleeper romance "The Notebook." Perhaps we're easy, but we fell hard for this couple who made kissing in the rain look like the perfect summertime activity. Honorable mention: Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate, "Anchorman"; Macaulay Culkin and Eva Amurri, "Saved!"; John Cho and Kal Penn in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" Best Sequel Lacking any of the bombast and marketing blitz of a summer blockbuster, "Before Sunset" is a gem of a sequel. Not content to simply rehash characters for the sake of fast-food tie-ins like the rest of Hollywood, director Richard Linklater and stars/co-writers Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy add layers of emotion to the complicated, conflicted Jesse and Celine, who we first met as twenty-something backpackers in "Before Sunrise." Nine years later, the pair are thirty-something professionals who have reunited in Paris on the last stop of Jesse's book tour. What makes the film interesting is the way the characters have evolved in the intervening years. Both characters have grown up since we last spent time with them. They are living, breathing people with actual emotions. And as ordinary as that sounds, you'd be hard pressed to find another summer sequel you could actually say that about. Honorable mention: "The Bourne Supremacy"; "Spider-Man 2"; "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" Best Baddie From Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor in "Superman" to Jack Nicholson as The Joker in "Batman," it seems the bad guys always get the showiest roles when comic books hit the big screen. And sticking to tradition, the baddest baddie we've seen in quite some time is Alfred Molina's turn as Doc Ock in "Spider-Man 2." If Nicholson's Joker was jealous of Batman's toys, what would he think of Doc Ock's eight arms? With minds of their own, Ock's sinister arms are as cruel as they are creepy. Honorable mention: Mother Nature, "The Day After Tomorrow"; White Goodman, "Dodgeball"; Mrs. Iselin, "The Manchurian Candidate"
How could funniest performance not go to Napoleon Dynamite? All those other comedies, with maybe the exception of Shrek sucked bad. Best Facial Hair: Tom Cruise in Collateral. Cruise is a bad-ass in this movie.
Hero is the best movie this summer, and this article didn't even mention it. It's **** like this stop me from reading
yeah the movies weren't that good. my funniest would have to be puss in boot... i really thought that character was really funny. esp. the ricky martin rendition at the end for some reason i really liked that. harold and kumar is funny no matter if you are high or not. i was completely sober when i watched and thought it was one of the funniest movies i'd ever seen. you know what? actually there WERE a few good movies. now that i think about it. i liked troy. also spiderman 2 was good. there were some bad ones though like king authur.
I'm sorry, but you have to be kidding. That worn out song was the worst part of a good movie. I have no idea why Dreamworks went with it. Even 3 years ago when they started planning this movie, that was the most overplayed annoying song of the year. What was the choices they turned down, "I'm too Sexy" and the "Macarena"?
